Advanced reader early, now stalled?

[minipie]

Hello

Just wondering if anyone else has had this with an early/advanced reader?

DD is 8, nearly 9. She learned to read very quickly in Reception and had a reading age of 10 at about age 7. Loved to read anything and everything.

However in the past year she has not really wanted to move on - she is re reading Daisy books/Treehouse series and others that sort of level which she first read ages ago. Comfort reading basically. We get more challenging books from the library (mix of her choices and my choices) but they get ignored in favour of re-reading.

She says she doesn’t like the smaller text of the more advanced books. She wears glasses for short sight already so it’s not an undiagnosed sight issue, I think? She also says she gets put off by not knowing all the words - but her vocabulary is excellent and I’m sure she could work out or skip the few words she doesn’t know. Obviously she can ask us too.

It’s not the end of the world of course and at least she is reading ... Just wondering if there might be something going on that I’m missing.

So as not to drip feed, she does have very mild cerebral palsy and I am also wondering about adhd - in case either might be relevant.

Thanks

Does she has low self confidence generally?

Possibly, but not in relation to academic stuff, more social I would say?

Do get her sight double checked, her eyesight prescription may have changed. Also check if the library stocks any children's books in large print.

Otherwise have a look around for book series which start at a younger reading level but ramp up as they go on (the way Harry Potter does).

Do you read with her at night still? It could be a way to introduce more complex books.

She might just be at a plateau for a bit before she keeps accelerating.

Barrington Stoke publish lots of dyslexia friendly books. The font is larger and more spaced out on the page. The pages are also thicker so that the print from the page underneath does not show through. Neither of my DC are dyslexic, but I still buy these, especially when I am buying one of the classics that often have smaller, closer print.

When I was a similar age, I took great comfort in reading things that were familiar. I didn’t like to try things new. Not sure why.

Even as I got older, I would stick to the same style books and same authors because I found it hard to concentrate on books that were not my usual style.

My dcs are very similar actually. The best thing is just to to keep trying different books and try audio books as a way in to discovering new titles more easily.

She may just not like the content of books designed for 10-11 year plus. The school books yr6 read can be quite graphic and grown up imo. They are designed often to get them thinking of more grown up material & concepts.
I'd look at a wider range of styles of books for 8/9 year olds. Harry Potter is good and also things like Mallory Towers & of sets of books geared for year 5 maybe. Just give her a breadth of styles of book

It may just be a matter of taste. I am a voracious reader, but I read for enjoyment, not to be challenged.

I also think that very early readers don't necessarily get as much out of the books they read when they first read them, so she may be experiencing her old favourites much more fully now. I would just let her get in with it, as long as she is reading and enjoying it.

Would a kindle work? She could make the text bigger/change the font as needed and use the thesaurus function for words she isn't sure of.

I wondered about a kindle too. I find the dictionary/Wikipedia function useful and I've been reading a very, very long time!

I do think that you need to allow her to read for enjoyment though. Let her choose all her own books for a while, just make suggestions of ones you think she'd enjoy.

Have you asked her why she isn't reading the more advanced ones? (Don't put it like that though!)

One of mine is a really prolific reader. She was reading fluently (Rainbow fairies level) before she went to school, and was reading the Little House series by year 1, which I remember her surprising her teacher with.

But she doesn't like "scary" books. They don't have to be scary, she just has to think they're scary. So she refused the Famous Five for years on that basis. She was reading ones that were far more "scary" but she'd got in her head that they were scary.
What I used to do was read her the first chapter. I'd cuddle up with her in bed and say I'd just read the first couple of chapters and then she could choose whether I continued. I rarely got to the end of the first chapter before she was pulling it out of my hand to read to herself.

But she still likes to go back and reread books she loved. I've known her finish a book and start it again three times in a row.
She also liked to go back and reread books you'd think she was far too old to read. I only got rid of her rainbow fairy set when she was 14yo, and even now (aged nearly 18yo) if she came across one she didn't think she'd have read she would sit down and read it straight away.

I'm the same. There's nothing quite like the comfort of rereading a well loved book.
A new book is exciting, but something that I need to be in the right mood for. An old book I can pick up at any point, and won't necessarily read all the way through. I might start at a favourite point, or a bit I don't remember so well, or just read the end.

Try a challenge like the library ones. Every time she reads a book of your choice, she gets points towards a prize.

Sorry: My reading skills need to be improved. yes, you have asked her! Sorry.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I will look out for larger print at the library, and will consider a Kindle although that would mean I’d need to buy books rather than using the library, I think? Which I wouldn’t mind if I was sure she’d read it , but gets a bit expensive if she just reverts to the old faves anyway.

I’m not trying to get her to read 10+ stuff I promise - I did once or twice in the past (classics like Tom’s midnight garden) and maybe that put her off a bit - but now it’s books that are definitely her age range and by authors she likes eg Wizards of Once or Chrestomanci series, or Harry Potter fourth book onwards. Lots of them she chooses herself at the library and then ignores .

Margaret yes, she has mentioned “scary” or “sad” as reasons actually. I have tried reading the first chapter or two and yes it does help a bit, she will carry on where I’ve left off but often only for another chapter or two and then the book gets abandoned in favour of the same olds.

Library challenge is a good idea

Don't forget 8 is still really young. Is there really any rush for her to be reading more serious stuff?

Most of the 8 year olds I know are reading the Treehouse books, Tom Gates etc. I think she may be wisely choosing books that are right for her age and stage, rather than reading older books just because she has the ability in terms of reading skill.

Btw you can borrow ebooks from the library for free, if you want to try that route.

Dd1 now 10, went through a phase like this where she just constantly read and re-read diary of a wimpey kid and treehouse books and will still pick up a daisy book if dd2 leaves one lying around. She would read other things on occasion David Baddiel & Walliams but default was comfort reads and nothing hugely challenging.
She's come out the other side now and has started reading more widely again but still prefers me to read to her if it is a big book (half blood prince currently for example) and her recent library book choices which she has devoured I would say were on the young side.
I am going with the flow - maybe because as an adult I prefer light reads to classics because reading is chill out time and I don't want to be constantly challenged.
In your case might be worth checking her prescription just to make sure she's not struggling though.

This was my dd she read early. It now won't/can't read much at all now she's a teen.
I read somewhere that some early readers memorise words by rote and so don't practice decoding words like others. Sorry I forget where I read it and am not an expert. But I do wish I'd persisted more with her when she was young. I thought she was bright so I didn't need to!

I don’t really mind about the content TheYearOfSmallThings it’s more that she is reading the same ones over and over.

Really I’m mostly wondering if it’s a sign of some sort of issue she may need help with (sight or focus or dyslexia type issue) especially as she does have some additional needs going on. But maybe it’s just that she’s going through a comfort reading phase.

Also ask her teacher if she can try coloured overlays

Could you read a chapter to her at bedtime and let her read on herself?

With a kindle you can download sample from the book. Usually the first two chapters. Then she can try before buying.

Thanks for the ideas, lots to try

DD is 10 and hasn’t stalled in ability (still above average with a reading age of 14 according to school tests) but in terms of what she likes to read, she still likes books she read a few years ago like the Wimpy Kid series and Treehouse books. Doesn’t bother me, reading is for pleasure in my opinion and if a child is happy, they’re more likely to excel and do well generally. I wouldn’t worry, as long as she is reading something that’s the main thing. Eva Ibbotson is an author my DD likes that’s a bit more grown up and The Boy at the Back of the Class is great-we read that together when she was your DD’s age and discussed some of the issues together.

I think she just prefers the stories more suited to her age. HP books get more an more complex and dark as the series progresses. Whilst she may be capable of reading the actual words, if the story is too scary or dark and she is not enjoying it, why would she carry on?

I agree with trying some of the older books, which have a more complex vocabulary, but still child-friendly stories.

Enid Blyton
E Nesbit
Noel Streatfield
Michael Bond etc

We shared bed time reading - I would read the first chapter, DCs would read for half an hour before bedtime, than I would pick up where they left off the next night and so on. Really worked well.

Does she understand what she is reading? I have had children in class who read a story word perfect but when asked questions have completely missed the point of the story. This can become an issue as they get older. Has she shown any difficulties with comprehension in other areas of Literacy?
Otherwise l would just leave her and let her read whatever she is reading at the moment. Children find huge comfort in rereading familiar books and maybe being tired after school with a new class/ teacher it's what she needs just to unwind.
When my ds was reading a series of books he would completely reread the whole back series each time a new one was coming out. It was his favourite thing to do.

Yes she is quite a young 8, still likes Hatchimals etc so she may just prefer the younger content.

That’s reassuring Retrieve that your DD’s ability has still progressed even if her reading material hasn’t.

June her comprehension is excellent. But tiredness is a big factor with her generally due to the CP so you have a good point there. She mostly reads in the morning (early waker) so I had assumed tiredness wasn’t an issue but perhaps it is.

Ok, maybe I will just leave it, perhaps encourage her to try other books (so she’s not solely re reading) but never mind the level. Will continue to read to her at bedtime.

Thanks all